


Out of the Darkness

by tobethefairybest



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-09-30 17:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10168217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobethefairybest/pseuds/tobethefairybest
Summary: 4 months have passed since Fairy Tail ' s disbanding. Erza has found her own way in life just like the rest of the members. That was until her now ordinary life changed in a way she could never have imagined.Disclaimer: I own this story on ffnet and reposted it on AO3





	1. Chapter 1

Small trails of light peeked through the gaps between the ochre curtains, announcing the rising of the morning sun. The narrows beams revealed the drifting dust until they landed on the sleeping mage's face. A strand of bright red hair fell over her nose as she moved her head, lazily opening her eyes.

Even though she seemed to have woken up peacefully, the stains in her pillow revealed quite the opposite, more nightmares had been haunting her.

Erza swung her legs over the bedside, not wanting to remain any longer between the damp sheets. She stretched her arms out over her head. She felt the dark oak floor warm up beneath her feet.

She turned her head to the long case clock that was lit just well enough to distinguish the time, it was 9 am. It had been a while since she had slept for so long straight.

Although the sun tried its very best to break through, the curtains wouldn't let it, leaving Erza's bedroom in a shimmer. She pulled the curtains aside, allowing the autumn sun to warm up her face. She opened one of the few big windows her room had to let the chilly air in. 

The view from her apartment was quite different than the one she had at Fairy Hills. No longer did she see endless hills with Magnolia in the far distance. Instead, rows of apartments divided from hers by a narrow street.

Some mornings kids would run over the cobble stone pavement, laughing with utter joy. This morning, however, showed no signs of activity. The street was empty, aside from some pigeons feeding on the leftovers that someone must have tossed out from their window.

At the end of the street she could see the canal that went straight through the heart of the town Onibus and one of the many bridges that crossed it. At the other end of the street a part of the town's famous theatre could be seen, the ones that had given her and her friends many fond memories. Memories like these were what made her decide to live in this place.

She turned around and walked to the kitchen in the corner of her large room to prepare some breakfast. She drifted off into her thoughts as she poured milk over her cornflakes with dried strawberries.

It had already been 4 months since the guild had been disbanded. Everyone had found a different place to live and somehow everybody was able to live with the idea of the guild never getting together again.

It sure had been rough in the beginning, but even she found a way of living on her own. How long would it take before she would meet her friends again?

A cool breeze that lifted the pages of the Sorcerer Weekly that lay on the table woke her from her thoughts. She stood up to close the window. Just as she was about to lock it, she spotted something from the corner of her eye. A figure had appeared in the alley. Judging by the person's height and build it must be a man. He was wearing a dark hooded cloak and somehow she could sense there was something familiar about him. The person didn't seem to move, he just stood there as if he was lost.

He must be one of the many tourists looking for the famous bars or maybe even the theatre, she thought. If I would have been outside I could have shown him the way. She locked the window and before she turned around she thought she saw the man turn to her window. 

Did he really look her way or was her mind playing tricks on her?

She could always handle being alone very well, but months without any real human interaction would make anyone lonely. And loneliness and living on your own doesn't go well when it comes to feeling safe.

It wasn't like she had anything to be afraid of. She was one of the strongest mages of the whole kingdom for Mavis' sake. But sometimes at night she found herself holding her breath if she heard a loud noise outside. And now the thing that bothered her was just the uneasy feeling she was getting from this stranger.

She walked back to the dining table, only to find her cornflakes soaked and sloppy. She sighed as she sat down and took in a spoonful of the goo that her breakfast had become.

The pages of Sorcerer Weekly that lay open caught her eye, wedding pictures of Sherry and Ren were all over it. It had been the latest happening of the week in the magic community.

Suddenly she heard someone knocking on the door downstairs. She jumped up, in all those months she had never had any visitors, who on earth could be at her house at this time? She quickly changed clothes and carefully went down the stairs, could this be the man who was standing outside? She requipped a sword into her right hand, prepared to confront the stranger, not wanting to take any chances. 

As soon as she readily opened the door, she held her sword in front of her, pointing at the upper body of the person who was indeed the hooded man. “Who are you?” The requip mage asked in her well known low voice, still not able to see the man's face beneath the hood. “Show yourself!” she yelled as she received no answer to her previous question.

“Calm down Titania, you know there is no use in using moves like that against me.” A familiar rasping voice said.

Erza froze as the stranger took off his hood, uncovering his dark maroon hair. One purple eye looked straight into hers as he grinned, revealing his dragon like fangs.

A chill travelled down her spine. “Erik?!” Erza gasped. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I could have received a warmer welcome than a sword on my chest, hm? Would you mind putting it down?”

“Not until you tell me what you're doing here,” she steadily said.

He laid his hand on the tip of the sword, gently pushing it down. “I can read your thoughts, Titania, you know that. So I know you wouldn't hurt me until you have at least some information, isn't that right?”

Erza's face cringed as she reluctantly let her weapon vanish into thin air. “Would you please stop calling me by that name?” she requested to the dragonslayer.

“If you could stop calling me by the name Erik, then we're even.” He smirked as he walked right past her onto the stairs.

“Hey! You can't just go into my house!” she yelled, quickly passing him and blocking his way.

“The information I want to share with you is top secret. I can't just tell it to you at the doorstep.”

The red haired mage crossed her arms. “I don't even know if I can fully trust you Er- I mean Cobra. Why would I let you into my apartment?”

Cobra shrugged. “I thought you'd want to know about your lover's whereabouts, but oh well…If you don't trust me…” He nonchalantly said, turning back to the door opening.

She felt her heart jump to the top of her chest. Did he have information on...?

“Wait!” Erza yelled as she ran back to him. “You came here to tell me where Jellal is?”

He turned around. “Not exactly. As you know, I'm part of his crew. That'd mean I'd reveal my own whereabouts as well, right?”

That's right, Erza thought, the entire Crime Sorcier guild consisted of escaped prisoners.  
“However,” Cobra continued, “I have a request from him that I had to pass on to you. I came all the way here to you for that.”

“A request?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second one, enjoy! :)

"A request?" Erza asked. She tried to stay calm, even though her heartbeat had doubled since Cobra had revealed that he was sent by Jellal.

"Yes, so if you just let me in, I could tell you all about it."

"Fine." Erza sighed, climbing up the stairs.

Cobra followed her until they reached the entrance to her apartment. She opened the door and let it stay open for him to enter the single roomed space. "So this is where you're living now, eh?" Cobra casually said while scanning the room. It had all the rooms in one, excluding the bathroom, which must have been downstairs. The room itself was plain, but the reddish and yellow tones of the walls, furniture, and curtains combined with the oak floor gave it a nostalgic and warm appearance. "Not bad. But isn't it kinda small?"

"I could afford a way bigger apartment indeed, but why should I? I'm living all by myself after all," Erza said in a slightly softer tone than before, still having her back turned to him.

Something on the dining table caught his eye. "So, still thinking about marriage, hm? You are his fiancé after all."

Erza quickly turned around. "Wha—" but she already saw what he had noticed, the wedding pictures in the Sorcerer Weekly. Her cheeks attained a bright shade of red and she jumped forward to cover up the evidence. "It's not what it looks like! The magazine was already on the table and then the wind—"

"That might be, Erza, but what you still don't seem to comprehend is that my ability to hear someone's thoughts never fails." Erza looked away, still flustered. "There's no need for excuses, so just be honest in my presence, kay?" He said as he plumped down on her big sofa.

Erza sat down at the end of her bed, since there was no other place to sit except for the chair at the dining table. "So tell me, what kind of request does Jellal have for me?"

"Well, it's kinda complicated..." Cobra said as he delicately put his hands together. "You do know we're currently trying to locate Zeref and Acnologia, right?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Erza said, remembering the last words Jellal said to her that night at the riverside, before he left with his newly formed guild.

"He sounded really cool back then, eh?" Cobra grinned.

"Stop reading my thoughts, would you?"

"Sorry, can't help it. It's my magic." He shrugged.

"Anyway," he continued, "the only thing we have done since then is tracking down guilds and groups that are worshipping Zeref and his actions, since he, himself, is nowhere to be found, same for that damned dragon. We took down quite a few of those groups." He looked rather pleased with himself. "The problem is, we don't get enough information out of those losers, since most of the time they hardly even know who Zeref truly is. They're just brainless scum that follows their leaders."

He looked at Erza with his only eye, overhearing her thoughts. Of course she thinks I'm rambling, she just wants to know what her blue haired lover had to tell her. "To get to the point, Jellal has come up with an infiltration plan and wants your help."

"An infiltration?"

"Yes, the newly formed magic council has already set up an infiltration mission, but they will start it in a few months, which is way too long for us. So we've decided to speed up things a little bit."

"An infiltration into one of those groups?"

"That's right. We've been keeping an eye on a certain dark guild named Avatar that seems to be planning something and it's no secret that their members worship Zeref."

"And what instructions did Jellal have for me?" Erza asked. "I can't just knock on the guildhall's door begging to be a member, right?"

"He didn't tell me anything about that. However..." he reached in one of his pockets and took out a shiny, flat rectangular object, "he told me to give you this."

He held his hand out and Erza took the strange device from him. It was almost as big as her hand and partly transparent. "What is it?"

"How should I know? It's for you, I thought maybe you would know how to use it."

Erza stared clueless at the crystal-like flat thing. "I wish I did..."

"Well, my job here is done. Time to leave," Cobra said as he stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" Erza said as she jumped up from her bed. "So Jellal really didn't tell you anything about this thing?"

"Nope," he said back and continued walking out of the room.

She looked back at the thing in her hand again until she realised she could hear the dragonslayer was already halfway down the stairs.

Erza ran through the door opening and down the stairs, taking two steps at the time. "So he wants me to go on this important infiltration mission without giving me any instructions at all?" she asked the second she caught up to him at the front door.

"Guess so," Cobra said as he put his hood over his head. "He can be so hard to understand sometimes, that boyfriend of yours."

Erza's face changed colour again, "He's not my—"

"Honesty, Erza."

She silently turned her head the other way.

"Well, if you excuse me, I have some shady guilds to beat the crap out of." Cobra grinned. She watched the hooded man walking down the alley until he turned around the corner.

Erza climbed the stairs for the second time that day, trying to take in all the things that just happened. It's not really like an average day when your formal enemy casually walks into your apartment with a request to infiltrate a dark guild. On the other hand, the fact that Jellal had actually tried to contact her made her smile like nothing else mattered.

On her bed, she saw the strange object that she left there. She walked over to the end of her bed and picked it up once again. No message scribbled on it, no clues, just a glasslike, small plate. What on earth was going on in Jellal's head when he decided to give her this?! Why did all of this have to be so complicated?! Why is he so complicated?!

She angrily tossed it back onto the sheets. She packed her bag, a day of shopping would let her help processing all the things that happened today.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had already start to set, painting Erza's room with more shades of yellow and red. She walked over to the windows and before closing the curtains, she looked at the streets one more time. Only an elderly couple strolled down the path towards the theatre. They must be going to watch one of the new plays, Erza thought. She would have liked to attend it as well, but not today. The current events wouldn't let her focus on things like that.

She crept beneath the blankets and tried to get in a comfortable position to sleep in. A loud sound of something falling on the floor made her jump up, a squeal nearly left her mouth.

In the almost fainted sunlight something shiny lay on the floor next to her bed. The device, she totally forgot about it. She reached for it and placed it down next to her on her nightstand.

Just when Erza was about to slip into a deep sleep, a bright light abruptly woke her up. She jumped up as cold sweat started to spread all over her back. An intruder? No, there was nobody to be seen. A lamp? Negative, she didn't even have one next to her bed.

As her eyes got costumed to the brightness, she could finally find the cause of it. It was the transparent device, giving off a blueish bright light and very faintly she could hear a tingly melody coming out of it as well.

Not knowing what to do with the object, she just carefully touched it with her index finger. The device immediately dimmed its light and the melody stopped. Relieved, she let out a deep sigh as she fell back into her pile of pillows.

"Erza, is that you?" a deep male voice said.

Her breath stuck as she felt her heart skip several beats. "J-Jellal?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy chapter, we absolutely need some Jerza fluff in these times of angst in the manga ;-;

"J-Jellal?"

She could hear a weird sound coming out of the device, quickly followed by the same low voice, "Do I happen to be speaking with a Ms. Scarlet by any chance?"

She silently sighed and smiled, imagining the grin he was probably wearing. "Yes, yes you are," she answered.

"So that means Erik did his job pretty well."

"Cobra," she corrected him quickly. "He doesn't like to be called Erik, because…you know…It reminds him of…that time.."

"Ah yes, I'm sorry. I'll keep that in mind the next time I see him."

An awkward silence buzzed through the room.

"So…" Erza started, "How did you manage to find me? I thought I had kept my new address a secret. Where did you get it?"

"I didn't."

"Eh? But how did Erik know where to find me then?"

She could have sworn she heard Jellal gulping as she awaited an answer. "Well, you know..." he said, sounding slightly uncomfortable, "He is a dragonslayer.."

Erza eyebrows knitted together in thought as she processed this new information until she suddenly realised what he was trying to say. "You let him track me down by scent?!" she said in a notably louder voice. "You used him as a sniffing dog?!"

"How else was I supposed to find you? It was my only option," said Jellal defensively.

She let herself fall back down against her pillows once more. "You're the worst."

She could hear him chuckle. "Yes, I know."

"So how come I can hear your voice through this thing?"

"As you might have figured out, this is a small version of a communication lacrima. Warren has been working on it for a while now." He paused for a few seconds. "He was a member of Fairy Tail too, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was..."

"I'm sorry if talking about the guild upset you..."

"No, it's okay," said Erza, smiling. "Without talking about it, how would I be able to keep it alive in my heart?"

"You always know what to say, don't you?" he said in that gentle voice she'd always loved to hear.

"I guess," she softly said.

Erza stared at the ceiling that was still faintly lit by the dimmed light of the lacrima, still not able to believe that she was talking to the man that hadn't ever left her thoughts for even a moment. Oh how much she had wished to just hear him talk again..."So about the infiltration, what's your plan exactly?" she inquired.

"Well have someone in mind, but I thought it would be a good idea if you were the one to contact him instead of me. He trusts you more."

"Who do you mean?"

"When I was in the town of Clover, I happened to see a public request board and two certain friends of yours that were looking for a job. I'm more than certain that it was that Fullbuster guy and his girlfriend."

"G-girlfriend?" Erza sputtered in disbelief to herself. "They've tied the knot?"

"Seems like it," he said, apparently overhearing her talking to herself.

"I can't believe it," she whispered in awe. "Why do things like these always happen when I'm not around?"

Apparently Jellal didn't hear her this time because he continued, "I thought Gray would be the perfect person for the job since he has a reason to be looking for Zeref. His father wanted him to go look for that book, right?"

"Yes, that's true. But would that really be a believable excuse to be accepted into the Avatar Guild?"

"Maybe if he goes with that water mage. They would make a more credible act—as a couple that has decided to devote their lives to Zeref."

"No, I think we should leave Juvia out of all this... She has a past of being a member of a dark guild. Infiltrating one might bring up her old self again."

"If you think so, we shouldn't involve her then. I'll inform Warren about that."

"What role does Warren have in this?"

"I left a request on the board just for Gray and Juvia. When they find it, it'll lead them to Warren. He'll provide Gray with a communication lacrima as well and a description on how to contact you."

"The rest is up to you two from then on. Do you think I can count on you? It's just too risky to do this myself. I think you understand why."

"Yes, I do. You can count on me," she said gently as she let the new information sink in. Taking on this mission would mean leaving her home for a while, not knowing when she would come back.

"Is there any indication on how long this mission will take?"

"Unfortunately, I can't provide you a precise answer," said Jellal with pity in his voice. "It could take weeks and I wouldn't exclude the possibility of it taking multiple months."

"I'm okay with that, it's not like I got more things to do. The jobs I've been doing have provided me with enough money to last me a couple of years."

"I'm not surprised about that," said Jellal, laughing. "Didn't expect any less from an S-Class mage."

"The only problem could be Gray I'm afraid..." said Erza. "He has to be willing to leave Juvia behind without telling her and there is no saying in how long the mission will take."

"I know there is a possibility of him not agreeing to be part of the mission because of that... I can't blame him, leaving behind someone you love is one of the hardest things there is..."

A loaded silence filled the room once again. His words slowly sunk into her mind and made her feel all fuzzy inside.

"Jellal?"

"Hm?"

"I'm really glad to hear you. There've been moments when I-I thought I'd never hear you again..." she softly said as she tried as hard as she could not to sniffle too loud for him to notice.

"Erza, are you crying?" he asked, slightly sounding concerned.

Her silence was enough for him to know she was.

"I've missed you too," he admittedly said in his always kind voice.

She felt her heart stammer against her ribcage as she tried to resist the urge to hug one of her pillows she was laying on to death. He had no idea how often she had wished to hear that voice in person again…

"Goodnight, Erza."

She smiled as she felt the only tear that escaped her left eye trailing down her cheek. "Goodnight, Jellal."

The device made a soft clicking noise and the only dimmed light it was giving off faded until Erza's room was covered in darkness.

Without the warmth of his voice, she now realised how cold it actually was lying on top of her sheets. She crept beneath them and as soon as she found a comfortable position to lay in, she fell into a deep, nightmare-free sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mayor fluff :D

By the time Erza woke up, the sun had already begun to rise. She opened her eyes, only to see her room bathing in the light of a late year's sun. She blinked twice, I must have forgotten to close one of the curtains, she thought and looked at her standing clock; it was already 11:15 am. This was the longest she had slept in years.

Her blankets were still fresh and clean, no sweat of anxious dreams and no salt of midnight tears. She felt oddly wide awake and her mind seemed to be freed of worries.

Erza looked over to her nightstand where the communication lacrima lay that Erik has brought her. A lot happened yesterday, not to mention last night. She still couldn't believe she was able to talk to Jellal again, the thought about it already managed to make her smile.

The lacrima hadn't made any sounds or lit up again. She wondered, was she, too, able to contact him or was it only the other way around? Carefully she touched the surface of the device. It lit up faintly and 2 buttons on the screen appeared. She touched the second one and a small list of short words showed up. The list contained only initials, no full names. They were in alphabetical order and at the 'J' she saw the initials 'JF'. Next to there was a rectangle that said, 'CALL'.

A smile crossed her face, should she do it? Just to hear his voice once more, even though she could practically talk to him any time now. She shook her head. No, the calling device was meant to be for the mission. He's probably way too busy right now anyway.

She climbed out of bed and opened the only curtain that was still closed to let the high set sun touch her skin. She opened the windows and slowly took in the fresh air and let it stream past her lungs.

Her life was about to drastically change as soon as the mission had started. For now all she could do was wait. Wait until Gray would contact her. Or not.

But until then she would enjoy the time in which she didn't have to worry about anything, but herself. She could read all the magazines she had piled up on her dinner table and bake all the cakes that were in her unused cooking books. No missions for now, she already made enough money anyway.

She stood in front of her man-size mirror and requipped into several outfits. But no matter what she changed into, nothing could satisfy her. She sighed and requipped back to her underwear and looked hopelessly into the mirror. It was at times like these when she wished she still had her female friends around. The girly side of her she didn't always show was something she could only share with Lucy, Levy, Evergreen and all of the other Fairy Girls. They always knew what looked better on her than she did herself.

But how would she now know how to look pretty to go into town? She sighed, but shortly after that she quickly lifted her head. But what if-?

She walked over to her bed and picked up the lacrima. The screen still was on 'JF' and her finger hovered over the 'CALL' button. He wouldn't be that busy, right?

She gently pressed the screen and it lit up. She lay it down on the end of her bed and sat down next to it. Nothing could be heard and she was afraid she had done something wrong,maybe she wasn't able to call him after all?

After a few minutes of silence she decided it just didn't work. She would have to wait until he called her again.

Just when she was about to lay the device back at her nightstand, she heard faint noises coming out of it. She bent over to hold her ear closer to the lacrima.

"Erza? Is there an urgent reason for you to call me out of my sleep?" She heard a sleepy male voice say.

She jumped up, still holding the lacrima to her ear. "Sleep?! It's 12 pm! I thought you were too busy, but you were just sleeping?!"

"Busy? With what?"

"I- I don't know?" she stuttered. "Fighting crime?"

"It's not a full time job you know," he laughed. "It's not like we take out a guild every day. Anyway, what made you call me?"

"Oh, it's nothing urgent, it's just that I-I ..." she let out a deep breath, "I don't know what to wear today."

She awaited a response as she felt the blood raise to her face. I must have sounded so stupid.

First Erza heard a chuckle followed by a cracking laughter. "You—" she heard him say as he paused for a moment to catch his breath again, "you called me because you're having difficulties with your wardrobe?"

"It's not funny, it's a serious business for me, okay?!" She let out as she felt her face becoming a shade closer to her hair.

"Okay, okay," he said as he snorted one last time. "I'll help."

She sighed out a "Thanks," and walked up to her mirror again, gently placing the lacrima on the floor next to it.

Erza heard Jellal clear his throat, "So, ehr, what're you wearing right now?"

She looked at herself in the mirror again and suddenly realised she was still in her underwear. "W-well, nothing yet," she stammered while her face now really rivalled her hair in colour. "Give me a second to change into the first outfit."

She awaited a response, which she didn't get. The only thing she could hear were some faint curse words. "Jellal? Are you okay?"

"I'll be right back," he said hastily. "My- my nose is running."

"Fine"

She requipped into the first outfit that came to her mind. A few minutes later she could hear some stumbling on the other side of the communication line followed by Jellal's voice, "I'm back, sorry it took so long, I'm ready now."

"In that time I could've tried on 17 different outfits, you know?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," he said, chuckling. "So...what's your first outfit?"

She looked at herself in the mirror. "Well, I am wearing red shorts, white ballerinas and a marine blouse with rolled up sleeves. Nothing special, just some basic clothes."

He remained quiet.

"So, should I change to the next one?" She said in a disappointed voice.

"No, no," she heard him say, "keep it like this, I think you look beautiful."

"How do you know? You can't even see me. My hair is all messed up and my skin looks greasy and—"

"You're always beautiful to me, Erza. You've always been and you'll always be."

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart skip a beat. "Jellal…" she said quietly as she sank to her knees and covered her face in her hands. Silently, she started crying.

"Erza? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to upset you, really."

"No, it isn't like that. It's just—" she felt a few tears escaping the corner of her eye, "I just want to see you again!"

A moment of silence was followed by his warm voice, "I want to see you again too, Erza. It won't be that long until we can see each other again, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for proof reading as always Chrissy ^^

The sun had started to set on a cold autumn evening. Erza was casually reading the new Sorcerer Weekly in her lazy chair, magazine in one hand and a cup of strawberry tea in her other.

Not many articles could draw her attention, most of them were about the latest fashion trends amongst wizards and lots of gossips about famous ones. "Does Sabertooth's leader have a relationship to hide from us?!" one of the titles screamed. Underneath the bolded title was a picture of Sting and Yukino. It looked to Erza like they were just enjoying lunch together at 8-Island's. Reporters sure have lively imagination, she thought. Unlike Lucy's though. Sometimes an article was written by her former guildmate and Erza always smiled when reading her writing. But the last few weeks only pictures of Lucy were on the posters.

She took a sip of her cooled down tea and boringly flipped the pages, only to nearly choke on her drink the second she saw an article at the second to last page.

"Member of Crime Sorcière spotted?!"

It wasn't a big article and it didn't even have a picture, but Erza's heart started to race as she read the text beneath the title.

"Thursday of last week, a very suspicious person was spotted in Onibus town that was recognised by eyewitnesses as a member of the feared unofficial guild Crime Sorcière. One of our eyewitnesses said she saw the person wear the recognisable dark blue cape with a hood that covered their head and face. She told us how she could feel the evil vibes practically push her away from the person."

Erza sighed. "Why do they always have to exaggerate everything…?"

"We have no idea what this person was planning to do, but it definitely wasn't taking down bad guys. Were they trying to gather new members? Must we be afraid of what they're possibly planning? We advise the people of Onibus to keep an eye on their kids and don't go out on the streets late at night."

She closed the magazine and threw it onto her table. "What a load of crap," she thought. "What has Crime Sorcière ever done wrong? Of course, the guild consisted of ex-criminals with all a price on their head, but none of them has committed anything wrong since they formed a guild that takes down dark guilds, right?"

Did she have to tell Jellal? He probably already had too many things to deal with at the moment, otherwise he would've called her by now. It had been several days since he had called her and it made her wonder how he was doing.

She stood up to get herself another cup of tea, but her attention was drawn to her bed as she heard a familiar sound; she was being called.

Talk about a perfect timing.

She ran up to her bed, touched the crystal-like lacrima and placed it down next to her as she sat down.

"I'm so glad you're calling me, Jellal," she said as serious as possible to hide the fact she was jumping with happiness on the inside, "I was just about to call you because of this article I just—Jellal?"

A low voice on the other side said, "I'm not Jellal. Who am I talking to?"

Erza froze as she realised somebody else was talking to her. "Who are you and what did you do to Jellal?!" she yelled at the device she was now holding in front of her face.

"Erza? Is that really you?" She heard the voice say, now more calmly.

Her breath was cut off as she now realised who she had been yelling at. "Y-yes, I am. Is that you, Gray?" she carefully said.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------

"I really get the point of all this and I'm really willing to do it. But it's just that... I just can't—"

"—leave Juvia behind, I understand it, really." Erza finished his sentence. "Just give it some thought."

"I will do it," Gray said with determination in his voice. "I just have to find a way to leave Juvia behind for a while without hurting her feelings, y'know?"

"I understand," she answered. "Call me with the lacrima as soon as you're ready."

"I will." Gray said.

"It's good to hear you again" Erza said, "I really miss my friends from the guild."

"Yeah, me too."

Erza grinned. "Even Natsu?" she asked teasingly.

She could hear a muffled "tch" on the other side. That was enough for her to know the answer.

Suddenly a new voice could be heard in the distance. "Gray-sama, are you talking to yourself again?" a female familiar voice said.

"Damn, I can't let Juvia find out, gotta go now," the ice mage hastily said.

"Bye for now. Take care," were the last words Erza could say before the connection was cut off.

She touched the rectangles on her screen again to find Jellal's initials to call him, only to see new initials were now showing up above Jellal's. She snorted at the bolded "GF".

It's a good thing Jellal isn't able to see my lacrima or he would really get the wrong idea, she thought, laughing to herself. Of course the initials were Gray's. Meaning that everyone who contacted her could be contacted by her again.

She hesitated for a second as her finger hovered over the button that spelled "JF" and pushed the screen.

After a few moments of silence she could hear sounds from the other side. Her heart doubled its beat when she heard his warm voice say, "Good evening".

"Hey," she replied, "It's me."


	6. Chapter 6

Today was the day, Gray had decided to work along with the infiltration mission and today he would meet up with Jellal to receive his first job. They couldn't risk being overheard while communicating through the lacrima. Erza was informed about this in a call the night before, one of the many conversations they had had over the past few weeks.

Erza wasn't planning on letting this opportunity get past her, she knew the exact time and place Jellal would be to meet up with Gray. She would do whatever it takes to meet him first and surprise him. The thought of his reaction already filled her with excitement. What could possibly be better than surprising him after being away from each other for such a long time?

She walked over to the kitchen to pack the freshly baked strawberry muffins she had prepared so carefully. They turned out just the way she'd hoped and there was no doubt in her mind that they tasted great as well. She lay the travelling pack back with the muffins on the kitchen table and walked towards her bed. She stopped as she caught a glimpse of herself in the man-size mirror on the wall. Confidently she flattened her black skirt. The blue blouse she wore was among her favourites, she just knew Jellal would love to see her in it. Blue was what fitted her best.

Lost in thought she lay her hand over her right upper arm, she doubted he knew he was the reason she chose her guildmark to be blue.

"No time to waste," she thought to herself, "if I leave now, I should be able to meet Jellal before Gray does." She actually had called Gray the other day and convinced him about Jellal changing the time for the meet up. That would leave her with enough time for a little picnic. She'd thought everything out, there was no way this could go wrong, right? A smile appeared along with a visible blush, she was so excited for his reaction.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------

She was still going the right way, right? It had to be the correct path she had chosen at the entrance of the forest, since she's been here so often on her own. She came here every time she needed to free her mind from her racing thoughts. Being on her own wasn't a problem to her, but it sure would be nice to have people around every once in a while.

Erza sat down on a tree trunk and opened the bag she had been carrying around the past few hours. Out of the bag she took the small lacrima, when she touched of the buttons, it made the screen light up and a clock appeared. It showed it was close to 11 a.m. and Jellal would be arriving at half past. She had to hurry, even though she should be close to the meet-up place by now.

Just one more turn to the left, she stepped over a big branch that was blocking the last path she had to take. The autumn storms that had been raging over Fiore sure had stirred up its beautiful nature. The mage had to block the bright sunlight with her hand to be able to see the open place that she was entering. A small hill with a few trees on top marked the tiny open area. The October sun combined with the little dew that survived the morning made the grass on the hill look golden, just a few shades lighter than the brightly coloured trees that surrounded it.

Erza felt her jaw almost drop at the beautiful sight. She couldn't believe now, of all times, it was the perfect time to be outside at this month of the year. Nothing would stand between her, Jellal, and the picnic. Not today.

Fully energised she walked up the hill with big steps. The top of the hill was perfect for a picnic; there was enough space between the trees to spread out the blanket she had brought along to sit on. She busily started to unpack the bag she had brought along: a bottle full of hot chocolate, some bread, and of course the muffins she had spent so much time on.

Patiently she waited. Just 5 more minutes remained according to the lacrima she had put away once again. She must have looked at its screen for at least 20 times the last few minutes. She just couldn't take the excitement anymore. Days had she thought of this very moment and the moment that would happen in just a few more minutes. "How would he react?" she thought to herself. "He would be happy, right?"

Panic struck her like the lightning of the storms the past few days. "What if he would be irritated for interrupting the important meeting? What if he got lost on his way here and ended up at a totally different place? What if he was allergic to strawberries?!" She couldn't just ask that before offering the muffins, right?!

Her stressful fight with her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of breaking twigs, not far away from the hill. She jolted up. She had to hide first, otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise, right? She quickly hid behind the thickest tree on the hill and tried to hold her breath. The sound of footsteps had gotten softer, indicating he was walking on the grass already. She stood up even straighter to avoid her skirt showing from behind the tree. The footsteps got louder, just a few more steps...

"Surprise!" she said as she jumped from behind the tree.

Her arms, which she had raised to make the surprise gesture fell down to her sides. She looked straight into the eyes of a pink haired woman with an expression on her face just as flabbergasted as Erza's.

"Meredy?!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mwuhaha, I just had to make it a bit sad after all the fluff of all the other chapters, but no worries; the fluff will be back ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and follow! ^^

"Erza?!" the young woman said, hardly able to bring herself to talk, her eyes still opened wide.

''W-What are you doing here? Wasn't Gray supposed to show up here?''

''I'm just as confused as you are,'' Erza said as she awkwardly put a strand of her hair behind her ear. ''I was actually expecting somebody else as

well.''

''So if I understand it well, you made Gray believe he had to show up thirty minutes later than Jellal told him so you secretly could surprise him with a picnic?'' Meredy asked just before stuffing her mouth with one of the strawberry muffins.

''Yeah, pwetty muff,'' Erza replied, already devouring the third muffin.

''I'm sure he would have loved it, Erza,'' Meredy said, giving her a heart warming smile.

The requip mage felt her cheeks fluster and quickly looked the other way.

''But why did you come here in Jellal's place?'' Erza said, trying to change the subject.

''Well, I do know all the information Jellal wanted to tell Gray, too, and Jellal said he had someone to visit.''

''I see…'' Erza said with a hint of disappointment in her voice as she looked down at the checked plaid.

''He talks about you all the time, you know," Meredy casually said as she reached for the last muffin that was left in the bag. ''It's clear how strong the bond between you two is.''

Erza almost choked on the last bite of her muffin. ''It's not—'' she coughed, ''It's not like that, really.''

Meredy shifted over to Erza's side and patted her back several times to help her breathe normally again. Her hand remained on her shoulder. ''You don't have to excuse yourself from being in love.'' she said as she gave the requip mage a bright smile. ''I know you two are meant to be together, so no need to hide it, okay?''

Erza had stopped coughing and tried to avoid eye contact. Secretly, she knew there was no point in denying it. The bond between her and Jellal was strong and even the densest person in Fiore could see they both had feelings for each other.

''It's just—'' Erza started but the sadness that had risen up by thinking about their situation broke down her voice. ''It's just not fair! Why can't we just be together?!'' she cried out and buried her face into her folded arms, which she rested on her knees.

Meredy was surprised by seeing Erza so vulnerable. Erza was the strongest mage she had ever met and the sight of her sobbing as she tried to comfort her was just odd.

''I know how Jellal thinks,'' she carefully said. ''He thinks he deserves nothing but the worst after all he has done in the past, even though he wasn't himself back then.''

''I know,'' Erza said in a muted voice from underneath her sobbing. ''But he'll accept my love only when he thinks he's walking the path of light instead of darkness.'' She lifted her head and looked up to Meredy. ''But how much longer will he walk that path? Will he ever turn his back to darkness? What you guys do is the right thing, right? Doesn't fighting evil with evil make you good? Doesn't that turn your darkness into light?!''

Meredy lay her arm around her as she laid her head on her shoulder. ''I don't know Erza, I'm sorry. I'm afraid he's the only who can convince himself he's doing the right thing. Just don't lose faith in him, okay?''

"I'll always believe in him," Erza whispered as she finally calmed down.

Suddenly, Meredy jumped away from her side. ''I think you should be going Erza, Gray will arrive here any second now,'' she said hastily.

''That's right,'' the requip mage realised, She wasn't supposed to be the one to meet Jellal today. She stood up and with help from Meredy, she quickly shoved everything back into her bag.

''Take care!'' Meredy said as she drew in Erza for a tight hug, ''I'll give him your regards.''

''Thank you,'' Erza softly said.

Slowly, she descended from the hill they had been sitting on and looked up to the sky, which had turned awfully dark grey, something she hadn't noticed during the picnic. Before going back into the dense forest she turned around one more time and waved at Meredy who waved back with her usual enthusiasm.

About half an hour later she finally made it into her street. The clouds had packed together even more and she could feel the first raindrops coming down on top of her head. She started to pick up her pace to avoid getting soaked before getting home, but it was too late.

Without any further warning, the rain came down at full power, the few drops that had fallen down before now came down like a waterfall and she started to run as she held her bag above her head. Panting, she turned around the last corner before arriving at her house, running through the already forming puddles of water she realised she would get home soaked after all.

She requipped her keys into her hand as she walked up to her doorstep. She was about to put the key into the lock when she noticed something was laying in front of her feet. She took a step back and only the change in warmth of the water made her realise her cheeks were no longer wet by the rain.

Tears streamed down as she let her bag fall next to her on the ground.

On her doorstep lay a huge bouquet of flowers.

Scarlet red roses.


	8. Chapter 8

Hours had passed by. She didn't even know what time it was, nor did it matter. It hadn't stopped raining ever since she came home. The once distant rainclouds now darkened her cooled down room. She would be warmer if she crept beneath the blankets instead of lying flat out on them.

But even the cold seemed irrelevant right now.

"He was here," was the only thought that occupied her mind. "He stood in front of my door and I wasn't there."

Like a mantra, she kept repeating that to herself. First as whisper of unbelief, later as a shout out of frustration. She now tried to get it out of her head, pushing her head deeper into her pillow, but it was no use. How was she supposed to respond to this?

She turned her head to the side and glanced over to her kitchen, where the dark red flowers lay on the table. They needed water, or they would surely wither. Erza sighed and pulled herself up. It was as if she stood up and walked over to the kitchen on auto-pilot, her brain still hazed from all the emotions it had had to deal with.

She picked up the roses. They looked so fresh, she figured they were cut today. Careful not to touch any thorns, she stuck her nose between the soft petals to inhale the sweet scent. Her eyes widened when she noticed something was off about the scent. Not only could she distinguish the rich odour of the flowers, but a different smell prickled her nostrils as well. She felt her blood travel to her head when she realised what it was.

Although it was faint, there was no mistaking the scent. A scent she was so familiar with, that somehow reminded her of a late summer night breeze.

It was his.

Slight panic struck her. "Am I taking over habits from Ichiya?" she asked herself out loud. "I don't want to turn into a freak!"

It wasn't strange for her to recognise his scent, right? After all, they had spent years of their lives together.

Out of a drawer she took the only vase she had. It would probably be big enough to contain all the roses. She filled it with a layer of water and one by one, she carefully placed the flowers into it.

When she was halfway through the bouquet, her eyes fell on something that was stuck between the leaves. Careful not to touch any thorns, she plucked it out. It was a small, blue piece of paper. She flipped it and on the backside something was written down.

To: The light in my life

Her hand started to shake as she read over the line multiple times in her head. She covered her mouth with her other hand, overwhelmed by emotion.

This wasn't the first time he'd referred to the contrast between their paths in life. He chose the path of darkness until he found himself freed from his sins. Jellal had told her to keep following the path of light after their battle against Tartaros, but he had never referred to her as his light in the darkness he kept on surrounding him with.

She was glad it wasn't the other way around anymore. He'd been her darkness ever since he became possessed as a kid. A stain on her soul that never seemed to leave her alone. It wasn't until he became himself again that she felt safe and ready to move on with her life. However, the mixed feelings of hatred, fear, and a deep rooted care she bared with her had been replaced with only a way more stronger feeling that came forth from that care. For long she hadn't been sure about it, but now she knew it was love.

To everyone in their surroundings, it had always been clear how close they were and that their bond was way too deep to be just friendship. Deep within her heart, Erza knew he felt the same about her, and this letter confirmed it even more. The frustrating thing however, is that he won't accept her love as long as he considers himself 'evil,' and for some reason she felt like he would remain in darkness forever just because he thinks he doesn't deserve her.

She couldn't let that happen. Once and for all she needed a clear answer from him. Would he give up on fighting crime just for her? Could she convince him to quit the Crime Sorcière after this mission was over?

For the time being she didn't need an answer, just seeing him would be sufficient. Seeing him. The thought of that alone made her heart race already. It had been 8 months since the last time they met, and even a year since that evening at the beach…

Not a day passed by without her thinking about that event just before the Grand Magic Games. They had been so close. Just a couple of millimetres closer and they would have kissed for sure.

Erza sandwiched her face between her hands. "Keep yourself together," she whispered to herself. Remembering things like these didn't make it any easier to be without him all the time. She would give up everything for just a hug and the comfort of him being around.

That was it! Enough self-pitying. If she wanted something to change she had to take matters into her own hands. She laid down the piece of paper and walked over to the nightstand right next to her bed.

Without any further hesitation, she picked up the lacrima and systematically looked up his initials. She gently pressed the 'CALL' button, put the device back on the stand, and sat down on the edge of her bed.

She pulled up one leg and hugged her knee. With her face resting against her knee she looked at the lacrima that was now giving off a bright blue light.

"Good afternoon," Erza finally heard, after some moments of doubt that he would even pick up.

"Hey," she smiled, "how did it go?"

"Did what—" he stopped short, obviously expecting a different question. "Oh, you mean the meeting with Gray? He agreed. So we can start the mission soon."

"That's great!" she said.

A heavy silence followed.

"So..." Erza started, "that means we have to hold a meeting soon, right?"

She went straight to the plan of creating an opportunity. Her breathing felt like it had moved to her throat as her heart stammered against her ribcage.

This confronting question must have surprised him, since she could almost literally hear him think.

"I-I guess so," he hesitantly said. "What do you suggest?"

"You're the brain behind this mission, why should I be the one to decide?"

"Ah yes, that-that's right. I'm the brain."

She chuckled. "You're acting weird, is something the matter?"

"No, nothing. Just a little tired, that's all," he replied. In the background Erza could hear things falling.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yeah, absolutely," he said. "I think I'll go to sleep now, that'd be a good idea."

"It's 3 pm."

"There is no such thing as too much rest, right?"

She sighed. He must be really tired to talk nonsense like this. "Well, goodnight then," she said.

"Goodnight."

"Jellal? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am. What's the matter?"

"Thank you for the roses."


	9. Chapter 9

Jellal sighed out loud after he had pushed the 'End Call' button. He laid the phone down on his night stand and reached for the photo frame that had fallen down in his clumsiness during the call. To his relief the glass did not break. 

Just before putting it down on its usual place, he wiped off the dust that had started to gather in the corners. 

Thoughtlessly, he trailed his thumb around the edges. Framed behind the glass was a picture of Erza. He had cut it out of a newspaper. Sorano and Meredy had joked about hanging his room full of posters of Erza that had been featured in Sorcerer Weekly, but not a moment had he thought of keeping those.

This very picture showed the Erza that he wanted to remember forever, or at least until he would meet her again. His memory wasn't the best anymore ever since losing all of it after the Tower of Heaven and regaining all of it later on. There were no fears bigger than for him to forget even one little thing about the red haired mage he hopelessly was in love with.

A sudden knock on the door woke him from his thoughts. Without any further warning Meredy came storming in. 

"Jellal, are you okay? We heard a loud noise coming out of your room."

Quickly, he hid the photo behind his back. "Ah, it's okay," he stammered. "I just knocked something over when I was making a call, that's all."

"Oh?" Meredy said. "And who were you calling? Was it for the mission?"

"Y-yeah, I was calling Gray again, to thank him once more for working with us to infiltrate Avatar."

Meredy devilishly grinned upon seeing his bad act. "I've heard from a certain someone that you're quite a terrible lair, is that true?" she asked nonchalantly.

He felt the blood shoot up to his neck and face. Was it that obvious? "You got me, I was calling her,” he admitted, not making any eye contact.

"I could have told you that anyway." She laughed. "It's the look on your face that revealed it. I haven't seen that glistering in your eyes ever since your evening with Erza last year," she teasingly said.

"It's already bad enough you saw everything back then, please don't remind me of it," he almost soundlessly said in a grim voice.

"Okay, okay, I'll get going. Sorry for intruding," Meredy said as she made her way to the door opening. Just before closing it she stuck her head around the door once more. "Wouldn't that beach make a perfect spot for a meeting?" She winked.

"Out!"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For at least an hour, he had been just sitting on the edge of his bed, frustration tearing him apart. Of course the thing he wanted most right now was to see Erza. But there was no way of telling what would happen and how their relationship would change. If they really got together for real it would certainly get in the way of the mission. He had to set priorities, he couldn't just let his selfish thoughts ruin something this important for the magic world.

It was getting darker. Would he skip dinner to avoid the questions from the women of his guild? Ever since Sorano joined Crime Sorciere the teasing had almost become daily routine and he was getting tired of it, especially if the guys played along. Having someone around who could read thoughts was not comforting either.

Maybe a meeting wasn't such a bad idea. He needed to get out of this place for a while or it'd drive him crazy. He couldn't stay in this windowless shack forever.

Jellal stood up. Unfortunately he had to deal with the rest of the people this afternoon, his hunger wouldn't let him stay in his room. Reluctantly, he reached for the door handle. He locked the door behind him, somehow he still had a hard time trusting the people around him.

"Still not trusting us, eh?"

He quickly turned around to the direction the voice had come from. He was just surprised to hear it, it wasn't like he didn't know who that raspy sound belonged to.

"Could you please stop creeping up on people?" Jellal said with a sigh.

"I guess old habits never die,” Cobra replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

Jellal walked right past him without paying further attention.

"So, are you gonna meet up with Titania or not?"

He stopped. For a second he thought about asking Cobra how he knew about that. But of course he must have overheard his thoughts earlier.

"None of your business,” he responded shortly. "And please don't call her by that name."

 ''She called me Erik so I guess we're even now.'' he said teasingly.

"So while you're meeting up,'' Cobra quickly changed subject when he saw Jellal wasn't amused by his mention of meeting Erza. ''you need someone to be in charge here, right? If you're looking for a responsible guy with leadership skills, you've got the right one right here,” Cobra nonchalantly offered.

"Thank you for the suggestion, but I'll leave this place in Meredy's hands. I'm sure she can handle it,” Jellal said and continued to walk.

"I'm sure she can handle it,” Cobra mimicked behind his back.

As soon as Jellal walked into the kitchen, he felt a strange aura hanging around the room. He could smell the food that has been made and saw the preparations on the dinner table, but something was off. There was no one around.

"Hello?" he carefully said. "Where's everyone?"

He started to walk further, it had gotten awfully quiet. Slowly, he approached the corner that divided the two parts of the dining room, he could sense a presence and prepared himself.

But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw on the other side.

"Hello, Mr. Fernandez,” Sorano said in her usual sugar-sweet voice. "We've been waiting for you."

"What's all this?!" He exclaimed in panic. Not only her, but the entire guild had lined up in front of him. Was this mutiny? Had they really been planning their revenge after all?

Suddenly Meredy jumped in from the side. "Okay, it's voting time~!"

His mouth fell open. What in the world was happening?

"Raise your hand if you think Jellal should organise a business meeting with Erza!" she cooed and demonstratively raised her own hand.

Instantly all hands went up, except for Midnight's.

"Shouldn't one of us meet up with her instead? Sending out Jellal is too risky,” he said.

Racer elbowed him not too gently. "You idiot." he hissed. "That's not what this is about."

"You guys..." Jellal said in awe.

Meredy smiled. "I know you're mad at me for this, but please, we all want you to go. For both of your sakes. This place will be in good hands, please go."

"I'm pretty mad indeed, but you're right. I should go." He managed to pull off a smile. "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Erza couldn't catch any sleep. How did she forget to continue on about meeting up? She had finally managed to gather the courage to ask him and now she had hung up without knowing whether they would really go through with this or not.

She sighed and buried her face into her pillow. How was she supposed to bring it up the next time? Judging from his weird word use he was surprised by her question. But still, he had avoided her question. Did it mean he actually didn't want to see her?

Her confidence that had been sky-high during their call dropped to an absolute minimum. "I've been too bold," she murmured to herself. She glanced over to the kitchen table, where the crimson flowers stood in a vase. Every time she thought of the events ever since she's been back to being in contact with Jellal, she felt her heart flutter.

Before this happened her life had started to get dull. At first after Fairy Tail's disbanding she was glad to have found a new place and gladly went on new jobs and made new friends in the theatre. But it just wasn't the same. She missed the mess and the clamor of the guildhall, the jobs that were performed in teams, and above all, her friends.

She had always been a distant person, closing her real self off for most people around her by pretending to be stronger than her fears. But her closest friends knew how vulnerable she really is beneath her armor.

Until a few weeks ago, the pain of missing the guild had become close to unbearable. The realization that the guild was no longer hit her in the gut more and more by the day. She earned so much with her jobs, she no longer had to take them weekly and spent all days at home and in the theatre.

Her life had become more and more empty and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to fill that emptiness by visiting her friends. She didn't even know where they resided. Just occasionally a few words on them in Sorcerer Weekly. Everyone had moved on and she felt like she didn't have the right to disturb them in their new life. But what was the point of a new life if it didn't have any purpose?

She didn't even want to think about how low she would have sunk in sadness if Cobra hadn't shown up on Jellal's orders. Jellal has been the one who dragged her out of the darkness, but he probably had no idea. He still considered himself to be in darkness until he was free of his sins. Erza knew that wasn't true. He would probably never consider himself free of sins. He just thinks he doesn't deserve to be happy after all he has done.

Tears started to well up and she felt the incoming wave of sadness form a lump in her throat. After a lot of worrying and many times of shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position, she fell into a restless sleep on her tear stained pillow.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Jellal!" she screamed as she ran over to the motionless body. "What happened?!"

"It's what he deserved for killing his best friend," a voice from behind her said.

Erza turned around, only to find herself looking at a huge guy with a prosthetic metal jaw. A shiver travelled down her spine. "S-Simon?" she could barely speak out him name in awe. "But how? This can't be true!"

She looked back at Jellal, who didn't seem to breathe. "Wake up!" she screamed as she grabbed his shoulders. "You can't leave me!"

As she tried to lean over him, she was pulled back by a forceful grab. "It was ME who truly loved you. ME." Simon said in a contained angry voice. "But you... you only have had eyes for him. The hero. The savior of all."

She looked up at him. "I-I never meant to hurt you," she said with a shivering voice. "You have no idea how much you meant to me!"

"It's too late now," he said softly and collapsed on the ground.

"SIMON!" she screeched. But it was no use.

"I made quite a mess of this, didn't I?" she heard a woman's voice say from behind.

Erza turned around only to find herself gazing up to Ultear in all her glory.

"I controlled Jellal when he killed Simon," she said, "However, I am not to blame."

"I know that," Erza softly said. "I've never blamed you, I know you were brainwashed. You did it all for the sake of-"

She didn't finish her finish upon her sight. Right in front of her, Ultear's face started to wrinkle, her back started to bend and her pitch black hair became lighter and lighter.

"I'm sorry..." Ultear said with a cracking voice. "I stole him from you all that time." She kneeled down and slowly sunk down to the ground.

"For whose sake?" Erza heard a voice say once more. However, this voice was unfamiliar. She turned to the direction of the voice, but there was no one to be seen. She stood up and walked a few steps. Almost blinded by her tears, she looked around, but there was just one big emptiness around her.

"Show yourself!" Erza yelled.

"It was all for my sake," the same voice said from way closer. Erza turned around and froze on the spot when she saw a young man with raven hair stand between the bodies of her friends.

"Everyone will die for my sake," he said in a sinister voice. "For I am the dark wizard, Zeref!" His eyes turned red and a wave of darkness emitted from his very being.

The wave reached her quickly and she felt her life force being sucked away.

One last shriek escaped her lips.

"NO!"

She sat straight up in bed. Sweat travelled down from her back and forehead and she found herself breathing heavily.

"Just another nightmare." She let herself fall back into bed.

This nightmare has been different from the ones before. Could it be that the guy she saw really had been Zeref?

Of course she knew her dreams weren't real, but every time she had a dream everything felt so real. Especially this one, she shook her head to get rid of the image of a dead Jellal on the forefront of her mind.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Erza had a hard time getting up. Actually, she didn't even feel like leaving her bed all day. She had barely slept after waking up in the middle of the night. Her pillow was damp and her sheets uncomfortably stuck to her skin.

Suddenly the image of Jellal that appeared in her dreams flashed before her eyes. She sat straight up in shock. Something wasn't right. She knew it was all just a dream, but what if it was a warning? What if something bad was going to happen to him?

Without a second thought, she reached for the lacrima that lay on her nightstand. She tried as hard as she could to keep breathing normally, but she found herself almost hyperventilating when over 20 seconds had passed. Finally she heard a voice on the other side.

"Erza, is there really any need to call me this early in the morning?"

For a few moments she couldn't even bring out a single sound.

"Erza? What's wrong? Are you there?"

She let out a sigh of relief. "It's okay," she said. "I'm just really happy to hear your voice."

"We just called last night." He laughed.

She took a deep breath and mustered up all her courage. "I know it's been over a year ago," she hesitantly started, "but do you still remember the place we finally saw each other again?"

No response.

"Jellal?" she carefully asked.

"Ehrm, yeah, I think I do." He tried as hard as he could to hide he had been thinking about it. "It was the one with the nice view on the sea and ehrm the... beach. Right?"

"That's the one," Erza said smiling. "You think you can make it there by tonight?"


End file.
